'Vegas virgin' finds there's lots to like - and ogle - in Las Vegas

Viva Elvis, a harmonious fusion of dance, acrobatics and live music at the Aria hotel, is a tribute to the life and music of Elvis Presley.Handout photo
/ Julie Aucoin / Viva Elvis

Packs of young men crowd the streets of Las Vegas, many who have come to celebrate a buddy's upcoming marriage a la The Hangover - Hollywood's hit movie about a stag gone awry. Here, seven young tourists gather at a statue of Venus situated at Caesar's Palace.Handout photo
/ Jennifer Twyman

But I confess to thoroughly underestimating the rest of what Vegas has to offer.

Nevada's fast-growing and most populous city (more than 600,000 people) offers so much more than the cliched gambling experience I'd so often heard about.

So attention, all you tentative Vegas virgins out there: a trip to Las Vegas may just be worth your while -- if even just to take in the sheer outrageousness of it all.

From its glittering nighttime skyline -- which includes, most impressively, the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Las Vegas hotel, the Bellagio's dazzling outdoor water show and the recent and supremely chic $8.5 billion CityCentre development (Visit CityCentre.com and you'll see what I mean.)

Then there's the city's latest pool party craze where entertainment directors such as MGM's Anthony Olheiser are transforming nightlife into day life.

"We're taking all the energy and vibe of what you feel when you go into a nightclub and transposing that onto a dayclub scene," Olheiser tells me of the MGM's pool, the Wet Republic.

"It's very high energy with a good-looking crowd," he continues.

"Everyone dresses to impress. And they seem to enjoy cooling off with our watermelon mojitos."

Peering down at the heated intensity of one such pool party -- a gyrating human soup -- from an upper deck

at the ARIA Resort and Casino, I was reminded of the difference between the priorities of a 45-year-old Vegas virgin and my 21-year-old counterparts.

For me, food -- such as the barbecued edamame beans at Simon's Restaurant -- is one of those priorities. To. Die. For.

Along with brilliant dining opportunities -- such as the highly recommended and not-your-ordinary shrimp salad at Mix and Picasso's thick slabs of foie gras -- Vegas also has a seemingly endless lineup of quality shows.

Perhaps, after all, there is a place on the planet for an entertainment-driven destination designed mainly for adults -- and one that includes indoor skydiving and Corvette car racing.

"I've heard people call it 'the leather-pants syndrome,' " grins Four Seasons ambassador Erica Johnson-McElroy, referring to how visitors to Vegas typically embrace the opportunity to try things they would ordinarily avoid.

"You've got these pants that you never wear and suddenly you find yourself coming to Vegas, so you pack them in your suitcase."

(Johnson-McElroy adds that the Four Seasons offers an oasis to visitors searching for an alternative to the fast-paced, in-your-face quality of hotels on the main strip.)

Turns out there is a healthy market for this kind of "cut-loose" mentality.

After all, where else but Vegas am I going to jump in a helicopter for a champagne brunch expedition into the Grand Canyon? That's after flying over a desert landscape.

Stuff goes down in Vegas.

I'd like to tell you about our dolphin encounter at the Mirage Resort & Casino.

But I can't.

You know the drill. What happens in Vegas ...

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